Bloch pushes for FPA and ASIC co-regulation

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) wants to develop a co-regulatory approach with the Australian Securities andInvestments Commission (ASIC), but is prepared to do more in terms of peer review, according to the chief executive of the FPA, Jo-Anne Bloch.

Bloch, though, said there was no possibility of the financial services industry becoming self-governing at any time in the future.

However, she told MoneyManagement she believed the FPA should work in conjunction with ASIC to raise the professionalism of the industry.

“I think what we need to aspire to is a co-regulatory model where the role of ASIC is clear in terms of its enforcement powers, and then our powers in terms of professional conduct etcetera co-exist,” Bloch said.

She felt the system was already working in this manner such that the FPA was already reviewing its members’ activities if they have had action taken against them by the corporate regulator.

“We are very focused on professional standards and we need to do work in this area and progress what works for us. We have some work to do to establish a professional framework that our members will support and work within,” Bloch said.

She did admit that perhaps the association needed to improve the communication channels between itself and its membership so as to let advisers know about some of the regulatory steps it was taking.

However, she was quick to clarify that the FPA currently did not have a lot of enforcement issues to examine.

“Can I just say we don’t have this huge list of action that needs to be taken,” Bloch said.

“We simply don’t have a huge number of complaints or disciplinary action that was required,” she stressed.

? A full transcript of Money Management’s interview with Jo-Anne Bloch, where she discusses a range of issues affecting financial planning at the moment, can be read in Money Management, August 24, p16-17.